Cutting and counting machine



G. J. KENNEDY CUTTING AND COUNTING MACHINE Nov. 27, 1945.

Filed Jan. 29, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

G/L 35k 7 J. KEA/A/ED Y ATTORNEY 1945- G. J. KENNEDY CUTTING AND COUNTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2- mwszvron G/LBE/P7 J. KENNEDY ATTORW 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 G. J. KENNEDY cu'r'rme AN'D' COUNTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1944 Nov. 27, 1945.

, T N 5 Q w 3x mi Q Patented Nov. 27, 1945 CUTTING AND COUNTING MACHINE Gilbert J. Kennedy, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation 3 of Delaware Application January 29, 1944, Serial No. 520,355

6' Claims.

This invention relates to a new and useful automatic measuring, cutting and counting machine.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple and eificient automatic measuring, cutting and counting machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved means for measuring, cutting and counting of thin strips of metal or wire for use with electrical apparatus, such as, for example, metal foil for electrical condensers.

A feature of this invention is the arrangement of an improved dial setting mechanism synchronized with a movable measuring feedand cutter by means of which a predetermined number of pieces may be measured, cut and counted.

By means of this invention, an operator can set the machine in operation and go about doing other condenser building operations and then return to the machine when a desired number of parts will be found out and counted.

This invention will best be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which: i Fig. 1 is a front view of the measuring, cutting and counting machine of this invention,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a top elevation of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a front view of the index ring and dial.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, upon base I there are mounted upright support plates 2 and 3 and I9, and end plates 4 and 5 which are fastened together by means of plurality of fiat headed screws 6. A top plate 1 serves as a cover plate. Plates 4 and 5 are secured to support plates 2 and 3. An inclined surface member 8 is secured to plates 4 and I and is arranged to serve as a chute for .guiding the strips of metal foil to a suitable container (not shown) after they have been severed. An intermediate cover plate 9 is fastened to upright plates 3 and H]. In front of cover plate In there is located an index fixed dial ring ll of metal which is divided into any number of suitable graduations l2, for example, from zero to eighty-two, as shown in the drawings. Adjacent the graduations from five to seventy-five are arranged a plurality of index pin engaging holes 13. Concentric with the index fixed dial ring ll there is located a movable dial plate l4 which has located therein a smallaperture l in which the operators finger is placed for manually setting the machine in operation for cutting a predetermined number of metal strips. A dial shaft I8 is arranged to rotate in bearings 19 and 20 which are located in plates 2 and 3. A large ratchet wheel 23 having a hub portion 21 is arranged to rotate with shaft l8 by means of tapered pin 22 passing through the hub. A small ratchet wheel 24 is riveted to the large ratchet wheel 23 and has its slanting teeth opposed to the slant of the teeth in ratchet The movable dial I4 is located just forward of the small ratchet wheel 24. Forward of dial ring ll stop arm 26 is located. Stop arm 25 has a depressed portion 21 and an aperture 28 located at the inner end thereof. The shaft 18 projects through the aperture 28. 'The extreme outer end of stop arm 26 is shaped to serve as a pointer 29. A collar 25 spaces arm 26 from the movable dial l4. Stop arm 26 is restrained from coming off the forward end of dial shaft t8 by means of a washer 33, a flat headed screw 3| and pin 32. The stop arm 26 can be set at any position on the fixed dial ring I I and locked by means of a movable pin index 33 engaging holes I3. A cam shaft 35 is arranged to rotate on bearings 36 and 3-1 in plates 2 and 3. A cam 38 is pinned to cam shaft 35 by means of a pin 39 in a position adjacent to plate 3. A collar 40 is located adjacent to plate 2 and is secured to shaft 35 by means of a set screw 41. On the other side of plate 2 there is located a driving pulley 4.2- which is pinned to a cam shaft 35 'by means of a set screw 43. A belt 44 drives cam shaft 35 by means of a second pulley 4-5 which is secured to a drive shaft 46 by means of a set screw 41. Shaft 46 is driven by means of bevel gears 48 and 49 which in turn :are rotated by means of gearreduction unit 50 and electric motor 5.1, the arrangement being such that the shaft rotates approximately seventy to eighty revolutions per minute.

A support frame A is secured to plate 5 for supporting motor 5| and gear reduction unit 50 to the machine. Directly above dial shaft 18 there is located a shaft 52 which is secured to plates 2 and 3 and retained in position by means of securing screws 53 and 54. The forward end of shaft .52 is threaded at 55 for adjusting nut 56 which is arranged to adjust the tension on the roll of stock to be cut by applying tension by means of spring '51 to a removable hub 58, the tension being applied between washers 59 and 60. Washers 159 and 60 each have an inwardly projecting portion 6-! which is arranged to slide in a slot located in the forward end of shaft 52. A roll foil backing plate 63 is concentrically ar ranged around shaft 52. The hub 58 has a flat tension spring .64 for providing frictional engagement to the roll of .foil 65 which is to be measured and cut by means of the machine of this invention.

The metal foil is cut by the actuation of a cam actuated push rod 66 which is secured to plate 3 by means of guide pins 51 and 68, the rod 66 being slotted at 69 and 10 to permit the rod to move up and down in a vertical position. A spring arm 16 is pinned to a shaft 12 and is actuated by up and down motion of rod 66. The shaft 12 is flattened at 13 to receive a movable knife blade I4, the knife blade 14 being secured in place by means of spring 14A, a Washer 143, and a removable pin 15. The spring arm 16 is secured at 11 to shaft 12. The spring arrn 16 and shaft 12 are both mounted for movement on the upper portion of plate 2. A helical extension spring 13 is interposed between the inner surface of plate 2 and arm.16, the spring being retained in proper alignment by means of a stud 19. The amount of the opening and movement of movab1e knife blade 14 is governed by means of a threaded bolt 80 which is threaded into plate 2 and locked in position by means of a thin nut 8|, the bolt 80 being positioned directly below spring 18 on an extension portion 62 of arm 16. The fixed knife plate 83 is secured to plates 3 and I by means of a plurality of bolts 84. With the above mentioned cutting mechanism, it will be noted that the knife blade 14 opens and closes with one complete rotation of cam 38. Therefore, the knife is always moving to out the foil. However, the foil will not be out unless the strip is fed by the feed rollers. The feed rollers will not rotate until the plate I4 is set in motion.

The proper measured length and number of predetermined strips are obtained by means of having a link 90 coupled eccentrically to and offset 1% on cam 38 by means of a pivot pin 9|. An oscillating arm 92 is arranged to freely rotate around pawl shaft I8 and is connected by a pivot stud 93 to a link 90 at the lower portion thereof. The upper portion of oscillating arm 92 is slotted to retain an over center spring device which oscillates with arm 92. Arm 92 is provided with a stud 94 to which is fastened a ratchet pawl 95 and is positioned so as to normally engage the teeth of the large ratchet wheel 23. The forward end of stud 94 has located thereon an operating arm 96 having an operating handle 91. The operating arm 96 is secured to stud 94 by means of a pin 98. Also pinned to stud 94 is a toggle link member 99 which is slotted at I00 for a stop pin IOI driven into 92. A ratchet knockoifmember I02 is arranged to be an integral part of movable dial plate I4, and it is located so that the under side of member I02 just clears the top of the teeth of the large ratchet wheel 23. To the lower portion of toggle 99 there is linked by means of pin I03 an arm I04 which is slotted at I to receive a pin I06. A helical compression spring I01 surrounds arm I04 and is retained in a compressed position by means of a washer I08. The small ratchet wheel 24 is riveted to a large ratchet wheel 23. The spring I01 acts as an over center spring, holding pawl 95 either in engagement with ratchet wheel 23, or when thrown the other side of center by manually moving ratchet knock-out member I02 by means of dial plate I4, to which it is attached definitely out of engagement until returned to engagement by movement of handle 91. A second pawl I09 is pivotally secured by means of a in I I0 to movable dial plate I 4 and serves to couple dial plate I4 with ratchet wheel 23 and thus with foil feeding means when pawl is engaged with ratchet wheel 23. Dial plate I4 is free to move in counter clockwise motion for setting purposes only but is restrained from moving in clockwise direction by pawl I09. A helical compression spring III is recessed at H2 in one end of pawl I09, the spring III being compressed by means of a stud II3 which is also secured to movable dial plate I4, the arrangement being such that the pawl I09 engages the teeth of the small ratchet wheel 24. A third pawl H4 is pivotally secured by means of a pin II5 to plate I0. A helical compression spring [I6 retains pawl H4 in proper position to prevent a backward movement of large ratchet wheel 23. The lower portion of spring II6 rests upon the base I and is guided in position by means of a stud Ill.

The synchronizing cycle of operation between the movable knife blade 14 and the movable dial plate I4 is governed by a train of gears located on the inside surface of plate 3. The train of gears includes a large gear I20 which has its hub pinned to the dial shaft I8 by a taper pin I2I. The large gear I20 meshes with a pinion gear I22 which rotates freely on a gear shaft I23. Secured to pinion I22 and for continuous rotation therewith is a second large gear I24 which meshes with a second pinion gear I25. Pinion gear I25 is fastened to a feed roller shaft I26 which has bearings in both plates 2 and 3. A gear I50 is mounted for rotation on shaft I26 and meshes with a similar gear I5I which is secured to a shaft I29. The forward extension portion of feed roller shaft I26 has located thereon a hard rubber roller I21. The arrangement of the train of gears is such as to give a 16:1 ratio so that /32 movement of the ratchet wheel 23 will move the strip to be cut ofi of an inch long. The {a of an inch eccentricity of the drive oscillates pawl 95 slightly more than part of the ratchet to make certain that the pawl will engage. Thus the lengths of the foils when they are cut off are {-2- of an inch long. It is to be understood, of course, that this ratio may be changed by selecting a difierent set of gears having a different number of teeth to give any desired ratio of length of the feed roller to movement of link 90, or by having larger or smaller diameter rollers. A slight tension is provided between the feed roller I 21 and the strip to be cut by means of a second hard rubber feed roller I28 mounted on shaft I26, the roller tension being provided by means of having shaft I29 s cured to a U-shaped bearing arm I30 which is pivoted by means of a shaft I3I. The U-shaped bearing member I30 is provided at the central portion thereof with a forward extending arm I32 which is fastened to shaft I3I by means of a pin I33, tension being provided for the feed roller I28 by means of a helical compression spring I34 which is interposed between plate 5 and the arm I32. The spring I33 is retained in position on plate 5 by means of a stud I34. Support plates 2 and 3 are slotted at I52 to retain shaft I29 in position.

In the operation of this device, the operator first sets the motor 5| in rotation, next the stop arm 26 is set in position to give a desired number of pieces of foil to be measured and cut by means of placing movable pin 33 in the index pin engaging holes I3. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, the stop arm 26 is set to cut 55 pieces. The operator then places a finger in the small aperture I5 and rotates dial plate I4 in a counter-clockwise direction until the finger is stopped by means of a depressed portion 21 on stop arm 26. The operating handle 91 is moved to the top position, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and in this position the toggle 99 is moved to the right and pawl 95 then engages the teeth of the large ratchet wheel 23. The forward movement of the oscillating arm 92 causes ratchet pawl 95 to rotate dial shaft l8 counter-clockwise. The dial shaft H3 in turn rotates the train of gears and thus causes a movement of shaft I26 to rotate feed rollers I21 and I28. The feed rollers are both driven by gears to measure out the strip material to a length of &2 of an inch, as mentioned above, for each advance movement of the teeth of the large ratchet wheel 23. By the movement of knife 74 the strips are cut in the desired lengths during the time the ratchet is making the backward motion before picking up the next tooth. This operation is continued until the desired number of pieces of metal strips or foils are out, which in this case is 55. The operation of cutting the strips is terminated by means of ratchet knock-off member I02 which is an integral part of dial plate l4, reaching a position such that pawl 95 cannot engage with ratchet 23. Pawl 95 then only oscillates between the last tooth then reached and the top of knockoff I02. When this position is reached the feed rollers stop feeding, although the motor continues to operate the cutting operation by knife blade 14. The operator in resetting the machine again moves the dial plate l4 counter-clockwise. The ratchet knock-01f I02, being an integral part of dial plate M, throws the pawl 95 definitely out of engagement with ratchet 23. The over center spring toggle device then moves to the left and holds the ratchet 95 up in the disengaged position until the operator, after resetting the machine, moves the handle 9! up towards the top of the machine. The ratchet 95 then again drops and engages the pawl 23 and the machine starts to measure and feed the foil as mentioned before and the cycle is repeated.

While I have indicated and described a system of my invention, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that my invention is by no means limited to the particular devices shown and described, but that many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for measuring, cutting and counting metal strip, comprising a manually rotatable dial plate, an index ring surrounding said dial plate, a cam having a rotatable cam shaft, means for operating said cam shaft, a knife operated by said cam and cam shaft to cut the strip, means synchronizing said rotatable dial plate with the operation of said knife, means associated with said index ring to obtain a predetermined setting of said dial plate, and ratchet means operating said dial plate for measuring the strip and presenting it to the knife and to control the knife to cut a predetermined number of pieces of said metal strip.

2. A device for measuring, cutting and counting strip material comprising in combination upper and lower feed rollers through which said strip material is measured as it passes therethrough, a knife located adjacent said rollers for cutting said strip, an index ring, and means including two ratchet wheels and pawls to rotate said index ring, feed rollers, and operate knife for measuring and cutting a predetermined number of pieces of said strip material.

3. An apparatus for measuring, cutting and counting metal strip, comprising a manually rotatable dial plate, an index ring surrounding said dial plate, a cam having a rotatable cam shaft, means for operating said cam shaft, a knife operated by said cam and cam shaft to cut the strip, means synchronizing said rotatable dial plate with the operation of said knife, means associated with said index ring to obtain a predetermined setting of said dial plate, and ratchet means including a train of gears operating said dial plate for measuring the strip and presenting it to the knife and to control the knife to cut a predetermined number of pieces of said metal strip.

4. An apparatus for measuring, cutting and counting metal strip, comprising a manually rotatable dial plate, an index ring surrounding said dial plate, a, cam having a rotatable cam shaft, means for operating said cam shaft, a knife operated by said cam and cam shaft to out said strip, means synchronizing said rotatable dial plate with the operation of said knife, means associated With said index ring to obtain a predetermined setting of said dial plate, ratchet means operating said dial plate for measuring the strip and presenting it to the knife and to control the knife to cut a predetermined number of pieces of said metal strip, and a device to stop the movement of strip when the predetermined number of strips are cut.

5. A device for measuring, cutting and counting strip material comprising in combination upper and lower feed rollers through which said strip material is measured as it passes therethrough, an oscillating knife located adjacent said rollers for cutting said strip after passing through said feed rollers, means synchronizing the rollers with the operation of said knife, an index ring and a dial plate, and ratchet means including an oscillating arm operating said dial plate with respect to fixed positions on said index ring to move said knife for measuring the strip and presenting it to the knife and to control the knife to cut a predetermined number of pieces of said strip material.

6. An apparatus for measuring, cutting and counting metal strip, comprising a manually rotatable dial plate having a finger opening for manipulation thereof, an index ring surrounding said dial plate, a cam having a rotatable cam shaft, means for operating said cam shaft, a knife operated by said cam and cam shaft to cut said strip, means synchronizing said rotatable dial plate with the operation of said knife, means associated with said index ring to obtain a predetermined setting of said dial plate, and synchronized linkage and ratchet means operating said dial plate for measuring the strip and presenting it to the knife and to control the knife to cut a predetermined number of pieces of said metal strip.

GILBERT J. KENNEDY. 

